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CHATHAM — Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister Bill Mauro will be in Chatham on Monday for a firsthand look at the fallout of the Thames River flooding, an early prelude to any provincial help.

Details were still being worked out Saturday, but a spokesperson for Mauro said he’s also expected to stop in Brantford, which was partially evacuated earlier this week from flooding in the ice-choked Grand River.

It’s likely a provincial office in London will also deploy a disaster assessment team once the water recedes, Mark Cripps, the minister’s aide, said.

Nothing can be done to assess the damage until then, Cripps said.

“We don’t want to be in anybody’s way,” he said. “Right now, this about the first responders and the municipality taking care of business and doing what they’re really good at doing.”

He said a disaster assessment team arrived in Brantford on Saturday to assess things there and make a recommendation to the minister.

Cripps said there are two programs available to address disasters such as flooding.

The Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance program helps municipalities with emergency response costs, or damage caused to essential property or infrastructure by a natural disaster.

Another program, Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians, provides financial help to people, small businesses, farmers and not-for-profit groups with similar damage or essential property loss from natural disasters.

Cripps noted the latter program “is not a substitute for insurance,” saying it’s meant to help get people and businesses back on their feet to make homes liveable and businesses operational, such as by replacing furnaces or drywall damaged by flooding.

Information about Ontario’s disaster-recovery programs is available on the ministry website, at Ontario.ca/disasterassistance.

The number of natural disasters in Ontario has increased sharply in recent decades, Cripps said, noting the government has responded with help and by updating its assistance programs to better meet needs.

A snapshot of the rising cost of disaster-recovery assistance:

— Between 2005 and 2010, the province activated its disaster-recovery program in 17 municipalities and provided more than $8 million in assistance.

— Between 2011 and 2016, it activated its programs in 56 municipalities and provided more than $40 million.

— Last year, Ontario set aside up to $12.5 million for disaster assistance across 37 municipalities that were affected by flooding.

— After the 2013 ice storm, another program provided more than $139 million to help 58 municipalities and conservation authorities.